Times in Tamworth 17

G'day everyone,

This has been an eventful week. First things first, the trio has been extinguished... it was so short lived! Elder Ripley got a phone callSaturday night saying President was emergency transferring him to Cessnock (about 3 hours south) and that Elder Tavalea and I will be continuing the work in Tamworth. So this morning we sent Elder Ripley on a train and now here we are!! It's been a good 4 and a half months with Elder Ripley, but I am super excited to be with Elder Tavalea. Our flat was pretty small, so it'll be nice to have just two of us again :) 

This week we had some fun adventures. We went up to Moonbi last p-day, a small town about 30 minutes away. We had a big campfire, roasted sausages and marshmallows, and went hiking around the mountains. I even got to see some boxing kangaroos! I can check that off the list now.

A huge miracle in the form of two investigators came as well. We tracted into a mom and daughter, Kathy and Elizabeth, about 2 months ago. Well they were never home when we'd come for a return visit so we kind of dropped them, but then this week we felt prompted to go visit them again. Well to our happy surprise they were home, let us in, and we had an awesome gospel conversation for the better part of an hour! The Lord is preparing His children.
 

Update on Chris, Amanda and Patrick. They didn't come to church again, which was pretty disappointing. We'll be seeing them this week to see what the next step is- Elder Tavalea and I are fasting for them on Friday to know what we can do as their missionaries to best help them. Please keep them in your prayers!

On Friday and Saturday we had a Zone Training and Special Zone Conference up in Coffs Harbour. We went to a trampoline place and then had a barbeque, followed with beach soccer in the sand. Needless to say I was so sore I had to lift my leg to change from the gas to brake pedal, haha. It was a nice conference, and it's heaps warmer in Coffs than down in Tamworth. I love it up there!

Because Elder Ripley was heading out today, we spent Sunday visiting the people he most wanted to say goodbye to. At church we caught a glimpse of Tamworth's potential- there was a baby blessing, and both sets of families were massive. For the first and probably only time, we saw the chapel full! It was awesome! That's certainly the vision we have for the Tamworth ward, to get back to that size... and they'll get there :)

 Anyhow we went around town and visited some investigators, less-actives and members that Elder Ripley really got on with. Probably the highlight of the evening was visiting Matt, one of our investigators that's working on getting married. For the first time, his whole family (including his partner) came into the living room while we were there, and we talked and played for a bit. As it got time to leave, we sang them some songs. First we sang "I am a Child of God". We had Elder Ripley sing the first verse, then Elder Tavalea sing a verse in Tongan, and then I sang a verse in Korean. We then sang the chorus together in English. The Spirit was radiating. Nobody wanted to talk- we all just sort of sat there and soaked it in. The three of us elders and Tyson Laga'aia (The member out with us) then stood and sang "God be with you til we meet again" and the Spirit was just magnificent. We all had a group hug and then knelt down together in prayer. It was a simple experience, and yet powerful. I remember walking to the car and just feeling good. We are really excited about that, because it's the first time we got to be with the entire family, and we know that they all felt the Spirit. We're having dinner with them this week so we'll get to be with the whole family again! Yes!!

Overall, a pretty good (and hectic) week. I'm sad to see Elder Ripley go; I've grown probably more with him than with any other companion. We worked really well together, and saw a lot of miracles. I'm really excited though to see all that's in store for Elder Tavalea and I: maybe I'll even pick up some Tongan while I'm at it!

For a Spiritual thought, read 2 Nephi 32:9. This was the scripture I always turned to before a big test, or a performance, or anything I was nervous or worried about. I now turn to it whenever we go to a lesson that we really need to do well on, or when I have to step out of my comfort zone to do something. It's a very real comfort to know that when I'm doing something, if I do my best and make sure that it is appropriate in the sight of the Lord, then I will always have His support.

And lastly, an Aussieism. Most Aussies don't like chips (or fries) with any sauce- rather the choice of flavor is to pound Chicken Salt all over it. It's actually pretty good, although I found out that Chicken Salt is basically all the ground up leftovers of the chickens. All in the name of taste, right?

Well I love you all heaps and hope you enjoy the heat for me!

Elder Easton